Is it normal for a capacitor to get warm/hot

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scottp3
 
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Is it normal for a capacitor to get warm/hot

Post by scottp3 »

I have the adafruit solar charger set up with a minty boost and all of that is working great. I am trying to charge a rather large battery, and the capacitor seems to be getting a bit warmer than I expected it too. Is this normal? It has been plugged into the wall for several hours, I have never had it plugged in this long before so I am trying to figure out if there is an issue or not.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Is it normal for a capacitor to get warm/hot

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

It should not be heating significantly in normal use. Make sure you have the polarity correct. Reversed polarity will cause it to overheat and even explode(!).
Also, what kind of power supply are you using? Significant ripple currents from your power supply can cause heating too.

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scottp3
 
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Re: Is it normal for a capacitor to get warm/hot

Post by scottp3 »

I'm using a 5v 2000 amp wall wart. I know that I have the polarity right because I have used the board for several months, the only difference now is the fact I have it going in a box. I think that I just need to insulate the back of the board with duct tape or something. I thing that some wiring or something was causing an intermittent short. Thanks for the response. It did help a lot.

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